Care providers can now download new guidance from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to help them provide clearer cost information in their contracts for service users. Based on learning from its investigations, the Ombudsman’s guide offers good practice on how to approach Funded Nursing Care (FNC) payments and…

North Yorkshire County Council stopped paying for an elderly woman’s care home after it decided she gave away money to avoid paying the fees, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. Following an investigation, the Ombudsman is now asking the council to reassess the woman’s finances and repay…

Dementia care for elderly people living in care homes is improved by just one hour of social interaction each week, a study suggests. A large-scale trial found that increasing the amount of social interaction improves quality of life when combined with personalised care, and also saves money. Previous research has…

Government plans to boost the number of trainee nurses are failing - with Ucas figures revealing a second decline in applications this year, nursing leaders have warned. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said that five years after the Francis Report blamed unsafe nurse levels for poor care at Mid…

A pensioner has died after a fire at a residential care home, thought to have been caused by an exploding oxygen cylinder, the local authority has said. Emergency services were called to reports of a blaze at Woodlands View care home in Stevenage at around 4.30pm on Saturday. Hertfordshire County…

A fire has engulfed a home for welfare recipients in northern Japan, killing 11 people and injuring three, officials said. Fire department officials said the residents were in their 40s to 80s, although most were elderly. The fire broke out before midnight on Wednesday in Sapporo, the main city on…

The Scottish Social services Council (SSSC) has published two new workforce data reports; one on children’s services and the other on adults’ services. The data in these reports supplements data already published in the annual Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2016 Workforce Data (SSSC, September 2017). The reports have…

The Welsh Government has failed to take the action it promised in a number of key areas to drive up the quality of life of older people living in care homes in Wales, according to a new report published today by the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales. The new report…